


15.6 mm

by allonsytastic



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, also: a slightly clumsy proposal, includes an additional Doctor for good measure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:19:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9361364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonsytastic/pseuds/allonsytastic
Summary: What do you reckon is the ring size of a twenty-something english teacher?I'm asking for a friend.





	

 

_Interior, Clara's kitchen. Clara is putting on the kettle while the Doctor is walking about, generally rambling about space-time paradoxes and munching on one of Clara's self-made chocolate-chip cookies._

**The** **Doctor** **:**... and of course the Bravorians _entirely_ failed to reverse the neutron flow of the binary vortex stream - which _obviously_ then lead to ... _(he continues muttering - more to himself than to Clara - as he absent-mindedly wanders from the kitchen into the living room)_

**Clara:** _(still in the process of making tea, not noticing that he's gone)_ Uh-huh.

 

 

_Interior, Clara's living room. The Doctor, still rambling, is suddenly grabbed by the lapels and unceremoniously dragged into the adjoining broom closet by an unseen intruder. An intruder-slash-abductor who turns out to bear an uncanny resemblance to the abductee. You might even go as far as to call them identical..._

**The intruding Doctor:** Shush!

**The Doctor:** _Don't_ shush me! I mean, don't shush myself! Yourself! Whateverself! _(he pauses)_ What are you doing here? How could you - i mean we - be as utterly idiotic as to cross our own time stream _in Clara's flat_? There's enough paradoxes around here as it is - who knows how unstable the time-space continuum is aroung here with all the travelling _from_ and _to_ this apartment? Plus I'll _never_ hear the end of it if she notices. What could be _so_ important it couldn't wait?

_another pause as he thoroughly scrutinizes the Intruder-Doctor, raising an eyebrow at the other's choice of apparel  
_

**The Doctor:** And _why_ \- for the love of Rassilon - are you wearing _sweat pants_?

**The intruding Doctor:** _(who is - in addition to the aforementioned neon-green sweat pants - also sporting a lumberjack-level beard and a pair of neon-orange shades)_ That is absolutely immaterial. However, what I'm about to ask you is of the utmost importance...

 

_Interior, Clara's bedroom_

**Clara:** _(looking for the Doctor, not finding him, and consequently shouting through the flat from the bedroom which she's just entered)_ Doctor? Is there any particular reason why there are now _two_ TARDIS parked in here? Are you _in_ any of them? _(Any of her attempts to open either of the TARDIS are mysteriously unsuccessful)_

 

 

_Meanwhile, in the broom closet_

**The intruding Doctor:** ... I need to borrow your Clara.

**The Doctor:** _(bewildered)_ What? No! You can't have her! I don't trust you with my... _(he pauses, again)_ ... with _Clara_. What have you done to _your_ Clara? Is she alright? Did anything happen? I swear, if she's come to harm in _any way..._

**The intruding Doctor:** She's fine, she's totally fine. But I really, _really_ need to make some... measurements for.. well, for _reasons._ And I can't ask _my_ Clara because I _absolutely_ want this to be a surprise.

**The Doctor:** Well why can't _I_ do it then? And how will doing it _now_ instead of _in our future_ not still ruin the surprise?

**The intruding Doctor:** Well, the way _you're_ acting around her, she'll not suspect _anything_ of the sort of thing I have in mind. And I can't let _you_ do it because - trust me - we were _not_ ready for all this at that point in our timeline. _(He tries to illustrate his incredibly vague point by making an equally vague and entirely un-helpful gesture pointing first to himself and then to the 'original' Doctor)_

**The Doctor:** _(fixing his future counterpart with one of his trademark eyebrow-intense stares, the effectiveness of which his slightly diminished by the intruding Doctor's ability to reciprocate the expression. Albeit it does seem as if the intruding Doctor is rather amused than annoyed by the whole situation)_ WHAT. Are you talking about?

**The intruding Doctor:** You won't find out today. Trust me on this. _(He pauses momentously, obviously relishing the opportunity of dropping mysterious hints)_ After all, I am your _future._ _(He's emphasizing the last words of his sentence, dragging out the syllables in a ridiculous manner as an ever-so-slightly-maniacal grin spreads over his face.)_

 

_As the (original) Doctor sets on to rebuke - and possibly scold - his other self, he is interrupted by the opening of the broom closet's doors and the slightly quizzical look on the face of his companion. Before any of them can say as much as 'what on earth are you doing in the broom closet', the Intruder-Doctor whips out his sonic ("A new sonic?" Clara wonders), pointing it at Clara's left hand and scanning it._

**Clara:**   _Right._ So there's two of you now.  _(She considers the Intruder-Doctor, her eyes momentarily drawn to the honestly-quite-impressive beard, and continues in a tone that some people might describe as 'flirty')_ So you're obviously from some point in our  _future_ , but how long  _exactly_ do I have to wait until this one  _(she points at the 'original')_ grows that beard?  _(She reaches out, her hand hovering iinches from the Intruder-Doctor's face. When he makes no attempt to remove himself from the situation but instead smiles at her, she tentatively strokes the fluff along his cheeks)_

 

_The original Doctor observes the ongoing scene with an expression of mild horror on his face, but is uncertain whether it would be appropriate to intervene. Normally he'd ask Clara, but well - she's kind of occupied right now._

**The intruding Doctor:**   _(his eyes never leaving Clara's though he's probably talking to both her and the 'original' Doctor)_   Well, as lovely as this is, I should probably head off. I think I'm picking up some temporal irregularities and two Doctors hanging around in the same place is probably not a good idea in those circumstances. 

 

_He gently takes Clara's hand to kiss its back and motions to leave the broom closet. As he steps out of the closet, he turns for one last time and now addresses the 'original' Doctor_

**The intruding Doctor:** Well, Doctor, you might have noticed that although I got what I came for -  _(he's keeping it vague again, this time because of Clara)_ \- things didn't quite go as planned. You probably realize that I'll have to scramble your memory of the last half hour in order to avoid a paradox. It won't do for me to remember how exactly this went down. I'd say I was sorry, but I realize that the existence of this time loop proves that I'd do it again.  _(He shrugs, giving the other Doctor an apologetic grin)._ Oh and I also had to lock your TARDIS for the duration of my visit - temporal stabilization and all - but it'll unlock as soon as I've dematerialized.

_It seems as if there's something else the intruding Doctor wants to say, but he makes up his mind to remain silent. Instead he flashes one last smile at them and - without further comment - enters his TARDIS, dematerializing only moments after._

_Forlornly standing in her flat, Clara and the Doctor are left behind, speechless._

* * *

 

 

_Interior, Clara's living room - much like the one we saw before, however quite some time has passed for the two people occupying it since that strange encounter. This is Clara's apartment in the sweat-pant-wearing Doctor's time - an apartment they now share. And there's another difference: This time, the apartment is covered in Christmas decorations, a tree standing in one corner of the living room, unwrapped presents on the floor below, and the scent of Christmas cookies hanging in the air._

_"Doctor Sweat-Pants" (formerly known as the 'intruding Doctor'), has just returned to this (his own) time, strolling out of Clara's bedroom back to the living room he left just seconds earlier. He walks over to join ('his') Clara who is curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace. He's hiding a small velvet box behind his back, his fingers nervously tracing its edges._

**Clara:** Where'd you wander off to so suddenly? It's not because of the sweat pants and the shades, is it? I swear, I also got you a _real_ present, but I couldn't just walk by them and _not_ get them for you. _(She's teasing him now)_ Trust me, they really _do_ complement your hoodies.

**Doctor S.-P.:** Oh I was just talking to myself, you know? Quite literally, too, you might say... Sometimes I wonder how you endured me right after that last regeneration - didn't seem to be the most agreeable of fellows back then. I made one additional stop, too, though. _(He halts, seemingly bracing himself, his posture straightening and his voice shifting to a more serious tone)_ Clara, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. I didn't realize it until today but I think it's been at the back of my mind, somewhere down in my subconscious for quite some time now.

 

_He pulls out the box from behind his back. A box which contains a ring, an elegant band formed of white gold crowned by a single gemstone. At first glance, the stone seems black, but when inspected closely, the light reflected by the tiny imperfectinos enclosed within resembles a star-studded night sky. It's as if a tiny part of the universe has been captured and forever sealed inside._

**Doctor S.-P.:** Clara, I never thought I'd feel at home anywhere but on board the TARDIS, but as in so many other things, you've proven me wrong. I still love to travel the universe, but I wouldn't want to miss our quiet days for anything. _(He's thinking of those days they spend cuddled up on the couch, watching soap operas and making fun of the ridiculous plotlines while secretly rooting for the oblivious couple to finally get together. The days like this one - spending Christmas together, wishing for nothing more than the other's company. But even now he struggles to put his sentiments into words and the only thing he manages to say while offering her the ring with unsteady hands is...)_ Well, you know, what I'm trying to ask you is.... Will you have me?

 

_Clara realizes why the combination of pants and shades had seemed so familiar to her. You'd think that the weird broom-closet-encounter from years earlier would have made more of an impression on her, but - honestly - sometimes her life feels like an assortment of weird encounters and there have been several more instances of future and past Doctors turning up in the meantime._

_The Doctor, meanwhile, realizes that he's just proposed to Clara without going down on one knee as is customary for earth humans of her era. As if to compensate he now goes down on both his knees, inadvertently sending Clara into a fit of giggles._

**Clara:** Well, seeing as you're going to twice the effort most people go to when it comes to kneeling, it would hardly be fair to refuse you, now would it?

 

_The ring is a perfect fit. And why wouldn't it be? After all, he's made damn sure to get the right measurements._

 

 

 

 


End file.
